Other Interests

Apricot Kuchen Recipe {A Guest Post}

08|09|12 | 2
years ago

(Photo c/o Chrystal Baker)

Hey, friends! Let’s keep it truly real for a moment. I haven’t had time to blog this week at all. Life on the islands has called and I’m tending to jumping off 40 feet waterfalls in the mountains of the Caribbean. That left me in a bind and begging to rely on one of my blogging life lines to fill in for me. Fortunately, Chrystal of The Duo Dishes, came to the rescue! Not surprised. With spotty Internet connection and hit or miss conversations on Twitter, we were able to have a brief exchange and bring you this post of high yum while I’m traveling. If you don’t know Chrsytal and her cooking partner, Amir, I invite you to! She’s become a good friend of mine on and off-line and am thankful she was able to conjure up something I’d probably not play around with! And everything else they do is just right. This just looks too good for my waistline right now, so I’m thankful she made it and not I. B-

By Chrystal Baker

Right now, Bren of is glistening by the beaches of the Dominican Republic, while we’re sweating like pigs on a roast here in Southern California. It’s very obvious that the latter does not sound as fun. You know what it’s like when you’re a blogger on vacation. With all of the demands of life and work, one of the last things you usually do is prepare several meals and posts that will then end up on your blog during your absence. The point is to be on vacation…and to thoroughly enjoy it! That’s exactly what Bren is doing right now, so she needed a little help this week and asked for a guest post.

Although Amir has never met Bren, she and I have developed a nice friendship over the years. It began just like many blogging relationships do–you chat online, email, tweet and Facebook back and forth, perhaps hang out at a conference. Eventually, you find that you know a bit more about them than just what their most recent post was on the blog. You know more about their families, their friends, their work life, their weekend activities and so on. You also don’t mind doing them a favor because you want to help. That’s why I knew this certain dessert would be just the recipe to share in my friend’s time of need!

The funny thing about this recipe is that it was made for the first time last year. Late last summer to be exact. Thanks to Bren’s call for help, it’s now time to share it with you. We served this treat at our second seafoodboil, which, if you haven’t heard by now, is coming up at the end of August. We spend an afternoon near the water eating mounds of shrimp, clams, mussels, crabs, lobster, oysters and crawfish near a grill or fire pit. It’s a day of sun and fun, fish and sometimes fowl. I am one who cannot go without dessert, and so we must have sweets. At that time, I had a bevy of apricots. I am an unlucky lady when it comes to snagging great apricots. I found the ones in my possession to be fair, but not amazing, so I figured they could be saved if buried under the seductive grab of butter, flour and sugar. Dessert, of course.

For some reason, I was on a German kick. Amir and I were researching ideas for our next Ethnic Exploration series, and I clicked through webpage after webpage and flipped through a few cookbooks as well. The one that stood out immediately was the kuchen. The word simply means cake, so don’t get too excited. There are many types of kuchen. Some are similar to our American coffee cakes, others are more like filled logs of baked and sliced dough. You can slather them with icing or stuff others with quark, a traditional farmers cheese. There are kuchen with yeast doughs, and there are kuchen with creamy custards. The one that struck me immediately was the peach kuchen with a baked custard topping over a thick crust. Apricots were an easy substitute. An excited decision was quickly made. With almost all of the ingredients on hand, it felt like a go-to pantry dessert that you could make with almost any fruit.

(Photo c/o Chrystal Baker)

To be fair, you should understand that the kuchen you see below is the second attempt, so that we would have a right on recipe to share. The first one was good, but it wasn’t as sweet as I’d like. This one has been tweaked to taste. If you prefer your desserts a bit farther from the sweet side or if you’d like to serve this as a breakfast option, reduce the sugar in the crust, omit the extra sugar sprinkled over the raw apricots or skip the final step of dusting the unbaked custard with sugar. You could also try a drizzle of honey over the raw apricots if that’s more your style. Test this dessert with any of the summer’s super stone fruits–apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums. You should have success no matter what.

Even if we can’t be in the Dominican Republic right now, we can all enjoy some serious sweetness in our lives.

1. Grease a 9" springform cake pan with some of the extra butter or baking spray. Set aside.

2. Begin with the cake crust. In a large bowl or food processor, combine the flour, the 2/3 cup brown sugar, baking powder, orange zest and salt until incorporated. Cut in the butter, or pulse if using a food processor, until the mixture comes together to form a uniform dough. Evenly press into the bottom and about 1 1/2" up the sides of the greased pan.

3. Once the apricots are dry, spread them cut-side up along the crust. Sprinkle the other 1/8 cup of brown sugar over the apricots. Slide the cake into a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven.

4. As the cake bakes, whip up the custard. Whisk together the sour cream, eggs, heavy cream, vanilla and orange juice. Once the cake is out of the oven, pour the egg and sour cream custard over the apricots, then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar on top of the custard. Slide the cake back into the oven and continue baking for another 25-35 minutes or until set and the top has browned. (It's OK if the very middle is ever so slightly jiggly. That part will set as the cake cools. Just be sure the outer edges have definitely set.) Cool completely before serving.

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Mi nombre is Bren but they call me B! I cook for cool people in my baddest pumps and leave them wanting more. I believe pressure cooking is the best thing that could have been invented & thank Mami for teaching me how to use it. My approach is to offer sexy yet accessible food. God forbid I start my day without 4 shots of Cuban espresso!

InstagramMint

Mint/Yerba Buena

Used in the Latin kitchen mostly for its medicinal properties, mint has many uses in global cuisines. In our house, we’ve always used it as a boiled “tea”for an upset stomach and indigestion. Of course, our most popular culinary use of mint is for the ubiquitous Cuban mojito! Other than that, it’s great or garnishing desserts and other cocktails. There are 18 knowns varieties of mint, according to Wiki. I know of 6. How about you?

Honey is a great natural source for reducing heat in 1st degree burns. Apply immediately.

Eggplant is related to the tabacco plant and it contains an insignificant amount of nicotine. Cooling eggplant causes it to shrivel and brown rather quickly.

Black garlic originated in Korea. It’s raw garlic that turns black when the sugars are drawn out of the garlic cloves during a special fermentation process. Most of the nutritional values in black garlic are higher & more potent than regular raw garlic.

A great way to preserve fresh ginger root is to cut it into smaller pieces and freeze. Keeping it in fridge or at room temperature will cause it to shrivel and dry faster.

The proteins in eggs are very heat sensitive and only need to be warmed to cook thoroughly. They will start to get firm at only 145 degrees. This is when a Bain Marie comes into play and is a great method for cooking egg custards.

Aging time of cheddar cheese determins the mildness and sharpness of it. The longer it ages, the sharper it gets!

Fat has 9 calories per gram. Carbs have 4, protein also has 4 and alcohol has 7. Did you know that?

Most of the fat we should consume should come from fish, nuts & veggie oils. Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine & lard. Daily allowances for oils range from 5-7 teaspoons for adults.

Mousse is a French term meaning “froth” or “foam,” which is a rich, airy dish that can be sweet or savory, hot or cold. Fluffy desserts are due to the addition of whipped cream or beaten egg whites and fortified with gelatin!

Cherry liqueur is a a sweetened cordial using cherries. It can be used in cocktails in lieu of Brandy, especially Sangria! 1 oz of this cordial has 103 calories and 11 grams of carbs!

Did you know rose hips are the reddish-orange fruit of the rose and are used to make jellies, jams syrup, tea and vino!? They’re solid in vitamin C and can be made into a dried powder.

Convertirse (Cohn-ver-teer-seh)

Convert; to become

(verb)

Many basic Spanish words are reflexive, even though there is no obvious way in which the action ‘reflects back’ on the performer. In an earlier Spanish Word of the Day we had ponerse, meaning to become. Convertirse is another word with a similar meaning. Convertirse is generally used with a noun

Bolsa (Bowl-Sah)

Bag

(noun)

La bolsa means bag, and applies to many of the same objects as the English word.

The bag you carry your shopping in is la bolsa de la compra, and when you want to get rid of trash or garbage, you put it in la bolsa de la basura, meaning garbage bag, rubbish bag, or bin liner.

Supuesto (sue-pue-stoh)

Suppose

(adj.)

supposed, alleged

Supuesto comes from the verb suponer, to suppose. Its basic meaning is supposed or alleged:

a causa de supuestas irregularidades en el bancoon account of alleged irregularities in the bank

Trufa (tru-fa)

Truffle

(noun)

The world’s most expensive fungus, usually grown in France and hunted by pigs and recently by dogs. Used in fine cuisine all around the world.

Afición (ah-fix-see-on)

(noun)

hobby; fans, supporters

Afición is a key word, since it refers to what we like doing in our spare time, or hobbies.

Mi afición es la filatelia

Translation: My hobby is stamp collecting.

Motivo (moh-tee-voe)

(noun)

reason; motive

Motivo is one of the many Spanish words which have one meaning like their English equivalent and another which is different. It’s a very common word for the reason for something.

Dejó el puesto por motivos personales.

She left her job for personal reasons.

Cebiche (Se-bee-chay)

(noun)

raw fish marinated in lemon juice

Though cebiche now appears on the menu of upscale US and British restaurants, it is not yet as well established in English as other Spanish food words, such as tapas, and needs some explanation. The national dish of Peru, and one of which Peruvians are very proud, cebiche (also spelled ceviche) is a kind of fish or seafood salad.

Sombrero (som-bre-rro)

(noun)

hat

This Spanish word is something of a ‘false friend’. When most English speakers think of a sombrero in English they see a hat with a wide brim which is worn mainly in Mexico and Latin America. But un sombrero in Spanish is simply a common-or-garden hat. Literally it is a hat for giving shade, or sombrain Spanish. The word sombrero was borrowed by English in the 18th century.

Nocturno (nok-tour-no)

(adj.)

night; evening

Some English & Spanish words share the same Latin roots bur are used differently. While nocturnal in English is literary or technical, Spanish nocturno is the standard word referring to that happen at night.

Desarrollar (de-sa-rro-yar)

(verb)

to develop; to take place

In an earlier Spanish Word of the Day we came across desarrollar meaning to develop.